Game of Thrones - 7 years ago today

[NewJeffCT]

George R.R. Martin released book 5 of his epic "A Song of Ice & Fire" series, titled "A Dance with Dragons"

We're still waiting for Book 6, "The Winds of Winter"



I guess we'll just have to content ourselves with the Cliff Notes version on HBO.

[CrispyQ]

1. I just started book three.

I'm having a hard time getting into it. I hate when a sequel starts with new characters. I want to see the old ones, first!

[TexasProgresive]

2. It's a lost cause.

Martin will never write 6 and 7. He delayed publication of 5 for years. I gave up on him. I'm finishing up Wheel of Time. Jordan at least can write from the grave.

[NewJeffCT]

3. On Westeros.org, they have a very active fan forum there

and, there was a topic that was posted there in 2013 or 2014 about what books to read while waiting for The Winds of Winter. At the time, I responded and had said that since I had noticed that another author had finished The Wheel of Time, I was going to go back to that series and give it a re-read in its entirety and that hopefully when I was done, we'd have news about The Winds of Winter.

I was so naive.

I finished Wheel of Time (I definitely recommend the audiobooks if you like that sort of thing - Michael Kramer and Kate Reading were excellent as narrators) and we still had nothing.

I had read the first several books of Wheel of Time, then quit in frustration as the books became repetitive. Then, I saw that Jordan had passed away and assumed the books would never be finished. However, it kind of clicked on me one day in a Barnes & Noble when I saw the display saying there was a new author finishing the series. I like Sanderson, but you could tell in the final 3 books that he didn't have the same style and same gift for description as Jordan.

[MuseRider]

4. It sure seems that long

but I am actually surprised that it has been that long.

I loved reading those books enough to do it twice and listen to most of them twice. I don't care for Roy Dotrice as a narrator but if there are more books it will certainly have to be someone else now.

I do also love the show but would rather have had the books. I have yet to find another series of books that I like as well and would invest that kind of time in.

Still, I am mighty glad to have what we do. What an incredible, detailed world he created. I am forever grateful for those hours in his world.

[NewJeffCT]

5. I liked Dotrice's gravelly voice

but, there are a lot of good narrators/readers out there.

Jim Dale was excellent for the Harry Potter books. George Guidall is a good one as well. Simon Vance was very good on those Girl with a Dragon Tattoo books.

I'd also be open to them using one male and one female narrator for male/female POV chapters, like Jordan's Wheel of Time series.

[MuseRider]

6. I have had Harry Potter on hold at the library forever!

I too have some favorite narrators. Vocal talent? I want to be respectful because they can sure make or break a book. I do not yet have recall of the names but am trying to learn them. Stephen King has excellent voice talent, they compliment his books so well. Also the woman who does Patricia Cornwall books sounds exactly like what you think her characters should. Thanks for the names. I also have been trying to get The Wheel of Time books. Taking too long. I will end up buying them on Audible I suppose. Lol. Supporting my local library.

[NewJeffCT]

8. There have been a few narrators

where I thought it hurt the book with their reading. A few where I kept picturing the celebrity narrator instead of focusing on the book. (That said, I thought Wil Wheaton did an excellent job with "Ready Player One", though I initially pictured Wesley Crusher reading the book...)

Most audiobooks I've listened to have had very good narrators. The guy that narrated The DaVinci Code was also excellent and had to use a bunch of accents - American, English and English with French and Italian accents.

[MuseRider]

15. I thought Will Wheaton did a great job.

I did not picture him, don't know why because that is a problem I have as well. I enjoyed that book and his narration.

[Iggo]

9. I had to stop listening when he got to his "Asian" accents.

For to cringe.

[MuseRider]

16. Lol,

I forgot about that. Oh yes that was awful! Yikes!

[FSogol]

7. Conan O'Brien followed him around to see how the new book was coming along....

[yellowdogintexas]

10. I think he'll get there. It may show up after the series ends.

That would be my guess probably in because the publisher wants the bump

[NewJeffCT]

11. I hope so

the last two seasons of the show have felt more like a "Cliff Notes" version of the books because they've gone beyond book 5.

[CrispyQ]

13. Does the series stay true to the books? -nt

[NewJeffCT]

14. Season 1 was pretty faithful to the first book

though, the TV show has trimmed the number of characters in each season in comparison to the books.

Season 2 had some bigger deviations, but was pretty faithful.

Season 3 made a few more changes to book 3, but hit most of the important moments

Seasons 4 and 5 kind of trimmed a lot out of books 4 and 5, and drastically scaled back some plot locations and stories.

[NewJeffCT]

18. I wandered back to Westeros.org

last night, and there is some speculation that Martin is waiting until the TV series ends and then will make a few changes to what he is writing to make it differentiate more from the show. (He had initially given the TV showrunners a basic outline of what will happen and the fates of the major characters)

However, that's only a rumor.

[Solly Mack]

12. He has a new book coming out about GOT but not book 6

It deals with the Targaryens - "Fire & Blood", part 1 of 2.

Obviously distracted with misplaced priorities...he needs to finish the series before publishing what amounts to another compendium.

[Iggo]

19. More front story. Less back story.

Ayup.

[Yavin4]

17. Book 6? We're living in it with Trump.

Current life in the U.S. is book 6.